U.S. Secretary of State Anthony Blinken and Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Monday after a covert visit to Kyiv that Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky is determined to win his country’s battle against Russia and that the United States will help him achieve that goal.
“He thinks they want to win, and we think we want to help them win,” Austin told reporters in Poland, a day after a three-hour face-to-face meeting with Zelensky in Ukraine.
Austin said the nature of the battle in Ukraine has changed now that Russia has withdrawn from the wooded northern regions to focus on the eastern industrial center of Donbass. As the nature of the battle has evolved, as has Ukraine’s military needs, Zelensky is now focused on more tanks, artillery and other ammunition.
“The first step in victory is to believe you can win,” Austin said. “We believe that they can win if they have the right equipment, the right support, and we will do everything we can … to ensure that they get it.”
Blinkon and Austin’s trip was the highest American visit to the capital since Russia’s invasion in late February. They told Zelensky and his advisers that the United States would provide more than $ 300 million in foreign military funding and approved a $ 165 million sale of US ammunition.
Blinken and US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin meet with Zelensky in Kyiv on Sunday. Blinken later said that Russia was failing in its military goals and that “Ukraine was succeeding.” (Press office of the President of Ukraine / Distribution / Reuters)
“We had the opportunity to directly demonstrate our strong continued support for the Ukrainian government and the Ukrainian people,” Blinken said. “In our opinion, this was an important moment to be there, to have face-to-face conversations in detail.”
Blinken said their meeting with the Ukrainians lasted three hours for extensive talks, including what help the country needs in the coming weeks.
“The strategy we have introduced – huge support for Ukraine, huge pressure on Russia, solidarity with more than 30 countries involved in these efforts – is yielding real results,” Blinken said.
“When it comes to Russia’s military goals, Russia is failing. Ukraine succeeds. Russia’s main goal is to completely subjugate Ukraine, to take away its sovereignty, to take away its independence. That failed. “
Locals receive Easter cakes and apples distributed by servicemen to pro-Russian troops on Easter in the southern port city of Mariupol, Ukraine, on Sunday. (Alexander Ermochenko / Reuters)
Asked what the United States sees as a success, Austin said: “We want to see Ukraine remain a sovereign country, a democracy capable of defending its sovereign territory. We want to see Russia weakened to the point where it can’t do things like invade Ukraine. “
US diplomats return to Ukraine
They also said Biden would soon announce his candidacy for ambassador to Ukraine, Bridget Brink, and that US diplomats who left Ukraine before the war would begin returning to the country next week. The US Embassy in Kyiv will remain closed for the time being.
Brink, a foreign service official, has been serving as ambassador to Slovakia since 2019. She has previously worked in Serbia, Cyprus, Georgia and Uzbekistan, as well as in the White House National Security Council. The publication requires confirmation from the US Senate.
Journalists traveling with Austin and Blinken to Poland were barred from reporting on the trip until it was over, were not allowed to accompany them on their land trip to Ukraine, and were barred from specifying where in Southeastern Poland they were. met again with cabinet members on their return. State Department and Pentagon officials cited security concerns.
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Austin and Blinkon announced a total of $ 713 million in external military funding for Ukraine and 15 allied and partner countries; about $ 322 million is earmarked for Kyiv. The rest will be divided between NATO members and other nations that have provided Ukraine with important military supplies since the start of the war with Russia, officials said.
Such funding is different from previous US military aid to Ukraine. This is not a donation of depleted US Department of Defense stocks, but rather cash that countries can use to buy supplies they may need.
The new money, along with the sale of $ 165 million in non-US-made munitions compatible with Soviet-era weapons used by Ukrainians, brings the total amount of US military aid to Ukraine to $ 3.7 billion. US after the invasion, officials said.
Biden has accused Russian President Vladimir Putin of genocide over the destruction and death of Ukraine. On Thursday, Biden said he would provide a new $ 800 million package of military aid to Ukraine, which includes heavy artillery and drones.
Russian tanks are rolling down a street in an area controlled by Russian-backed separatist forces in Mariupol, Ukraine, on Saturday. (Alexei Alexandrov / Associated Press)
Congress approved $ 6.5 billion in military aid last month as part of $ 13.6 billion in US spending on Ukraine and its allies in response to the Russian invasion.
From Poland, Blinken plans to return to Washington, while Austin will travel to Rammstein, Germany, for a meeting Tuesday with NATO defense ministers and other donor countries.
The discussion will look at updates on the battlefield from the ground, additional security aid for Ukraine and long-term defense needs in Europe, including how to step up military production to fill the gaps caused by the war in Ukraine, officials said. More than 20 countries are expected to send representatives to the meeting.
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